Hidden Behind A Mask
by Dyassie
Summary: Sarah gets invited to a Halloween party, but who is the man behind the mask.


Hidden Behind A Mask

With the masquerade scene, Jareth's unique outfits and Halloween upon us, a Halloween party seemed a good fit for him to seamlessly merge into the crowd among others to interact with Sarah.

However, I ended up with two different stories.

Hidden Behind A Mask was the first one, but felt a bit too contrived and over the top. But when I went back and read over it after reading the first one, I could not delete it and thought some might still like it.

He Came Dressed As The Goblin King was the second one that was meant as a rewrite that is more casual.

* * *

"Oh come on Sarah, we might not ever get an opportunity like this again," Tiffany said over the phone.

Sarah glanced down at the card in her hand. Both her and her friend had received invitations to a very uptown, exclusive Halloween party.

"Maybe but still…"

Sarah and Tiffany had just recently become friends when they both landed starring roles in a low-budget play. To everyone's astonishment, the play was a breakout success giving the two ladies a name for themselves. However, both knew that success in this business could be fleeting.

"It's a huge mansion and we will be there together. What could possibly happen?"

"You never really know." Sarah had become quite cautious about certain things since leaving the labyrinth. She now realized that you could not take everything for face value and that you really did need to be prudent over certain matters, which is why she was concerned. She had never heard of the person throwing the party before and she did not like the idea of venturing into a stranger's house. It was not quite the same as going for an audition at an unknown playhouse, which she always researched up on before going. "But I guess it should be okay. Like you said, what can really happen?"

"Great, I'll pick you up in a few hours so we can go get costumes."

"Yeah, I only hope they are not too expensive or we may have to opt out anyway." The invitation had said that it was a themed party and that the given store would provide a wide selection of the costumes to those invited.

"I hope not. See you soon."

"Bye."

That afternoon, Sarah and Tiffany headed to the store and discovered it to be a little hole in the wall store. When they told the manager the instructions from the invitation he asked them to have a seat and started dragging out a wide selection of very elegant animal-themed costumes, such as a white dress made with sheer animal wings or a deep blue peacock dress with feathers lining the corset area and a golden crown. And every costume had an accompany masquerade mask. The dresses were so exquisite they made Sarah felt uncomfortable about the whole thing.

"How much," she asked not wanting to choose something unless she could actually afford it. This was her first big break and she still had bills pay.

"Ah, nothing. You are his guests of honor and he expressed his desire to take care of your expenses himself."

"Wow," Tiffany gasped, "This just keeps getting better."

"Or too good," Sarah muttered knowing this was not right but realizing there was no turning back now or else Tiffany would go by herself and she was not about to let her friend do that. She loved Tiffany to death and she knew how gullible her friend could be. In just the recent months they had known each other, Sarah had found that one of their castmates owed Tiffany back over a hundred of dollars because of the typical 'I don't have any money on me today, can you get that and I will pay you back later' and that Tiffany repeatedly fell for the most horrendous practical jokes pulled on her by their male costar because he knew she would fall for them. Sarah had stood up for Tiffany confronting both parties in front of everyone. The rest of their coworkers liked Tiffany and did not like how she had been used and mistreated so had heavily persuaded, more like threatened, the two to stop and for the one who had borrowed money from Tiffany to repay it.

Sarah knew she could not protect Tiffany forever, but she could not let her go to this party un-chaperoned either.

Tiffany found a costume, a silky, body-conforming black satin dress with mock tuffs of hair at the ends of the sleeves, a black tail out of the back and a beautiful sliver cat-shaped mask that covered her nose upward until it ended in the pointed cat ears. Then the manager's attention to finding a costume turned to Sarah.

"How you seen anything you liked," the manager questioned.

Sarah had seen a few things that were nice but nothing that had really seemed like her.

"Sort of." She bit her lip undecidedly trying to think of which one would be best to choose from looking at all the choices laid out in front of her.

"Wait right here," the manager said with a knowing smile. He left going into the back of the store. When he returned, he was carrying a rather large garment bag.

"I had almost forgotten about this one. I kept it in storage so it does not get messed up but I think it will be perfect for you."

He unzipped the bag pushing it down so where white gauzy material of the dress beneath glowed underneath the fluorescent lighting.

Sarah felt her breath catch.

It was stunning. Absolutely breathtaking.

It reminded her of a swan spreading its wings. The dress was absolutely white with its large ball gown skirt and puffy upper sleeves which emerged as if they were wings. As the corset area had scatterings of gold mixing it its whiteness. It was large but still elegant just like the bird it was suppose to resemble. It reminded her of a dress out of her fantasies she had once worn. A dress that had indeed been perfect for her just as this dress was.

And to complement the dress, the mask was a creation in itself. The pearly white mask had just the faintest touches of black around the eyes fading gently into the paleness of the mask that eventually curved up into beautiful wings at the sides.

"It is the most enchanting thing I have ever seen," she stroked the lovely material, "but I am afraid I cannot." It was just too much. And it must cost a fortune. She was conscientious of the fact that someone else was paying for the dress.

"At least try it on before you make a decision." The manager pushed her towards the dressing room, handing her the dress as she went.

Sarah begrudged the elderly man his whim taking the dress. She changed into it admiring its brilliance.

Before donning the mask, her mind whirled back to the other dress and the ball where Jareth had danced with her. She often thought about that dance and his words to her before she had defeated him. She no longer hated him the way she once had.

In fact, she now pitied him, the man that lived alone in that castle with just the goblins to keep him company. In seeing those goblins, she had come to understand why Jareth was the way he was. He was surrounded by creatures that laughed at others misfortune. This type of behavior was bound to be infectious when it was all you were around day after day.

And for Sarah herself, she had come to take the responsibilities of having wished her own brother away and had eventually realized that Jareth had not had to give her a chance to give him back. For that much, she had become grateful to him even though he had deterred her at every turn.

She slid the curtain back and stepped out. Tiffany and the manager appeared awestruck.

"That is your costume Sarah." Tiffany reached up pulling her sliver mask off as she gawked at her friend.

"I do say if I was thirty years younger…," the manager started with a smile, "You have no choice. You must wear it."

Sarah shook her head. "It must be too expensive. I could not."

"Not at all. In fact, he gave me more than those two dresses combined the other day. It is not the first time I have come across situations like this. And you might as well get use to it. You will have many parties ahead in your future. I can guarantee it." He winked. "So if you ladies will get changed. I will wrap your stuff up to go."

As he handed them their boxes, he told them, "I hope you have a good time."

Sarah smiled and thanked him as she took the box from him.

The night of Halloween, Tiffany was absolutely giddy as they walked up the path to the building once passing through the guards at the gate. Sarah trailed behind her. She stared up at the massive building feeling overwhelmed. Beyond Jareth's castle, she had never been to any residence so immense.

What waited inside, she wondered as she placed her foot on the first of a long staircase. Amassing the staircase she saw a glimpse of the long hallway as others traveled before her. Her head turned to both sides as she admired the eerie decorations lining the sides. She was journeying into some otherworldly jungle with slivery bluish-green foliage.

"Aren't you glad you came now," Tiffany asked her as they exited out into the colossal ballroom with the same decorative foliage lining the walls and hanging from the ceiling. "You would not have wanted to miss this. I know you would not have."

"You're right. This is so…so amazingly beautiful. It reminds of something out of a fantasy book. I could have never even imagined something so spectacular." Sarah could hardly take her eyes from the walls and ceilings wanting to take in each detail in all its glory.

"Ah I see my guests of honor have arrived."

She jumped at the sudden intrusion. Seeing the man in the white tiger costume smiling at them below his mask, she felt uneasy again.

"Mr. Lance Stonewell." He bowed his head slightly as he stuck his hand out to take theirs in greeting. "I am so glad you took me up on my invitation. I have wanted to meet the two of you ever since seeing your amazing performances. Let me say, you both are mighty talented. And both are your costumes are lovely especially yours Ms. Williams."

Sarah felt flustered as she took the man's hand. She had heard the man's name before and knew that he was a very influential man who among other pursuits in the business world liked to back stage productions. He was a patriarch of the acting community.

"Um, how did you know it was us," Tiffany questioned sounding a little ditzy, "I mean we are wearing masks." However, Tiffany's question made Sarah feel daft at having not thought about it herself. She was right. With their masks on, how had the man recognized them?

He winked at them. "Because I always recognize any beautiful lady." Tiffany giggled, but Sarah did not find his answer satisfying. He was avoiding the answer.

At seeing her unimpressed reaction, he cleared his throat. "Actually, I got Mr. Tomlin from the store to write down and forward me a list of what everyone would be wearing so I could easily indentify my guests. You know," he gave her a genuine smile this time, "I did not want to make a fool of myself."

She nodded in understanding that it could be embarrassing for a man in his situation to say the wrong thing in front of the wrong person not knowing who they were. "Of course."

"Now let me be a good host. Would either of you ladies care to dance?" He glanced first at Tiffany but then held eye contact with Sarah like the question was meant more for her and he was only being polite to Tiffany.

"Oh, I would love to," Tiffany gushed, "but what about Sarah? We should not leave her here by herself."

"Nonsense," Sarah said. "You should go dance. Don't worry about me. Right now I am more interested in looking around anyway."

"At least let me introduce you to someone first. That way I don't feel so guilty about taking your company away from you." He waved to someone across the room.

The man in white strolled towards him. He wore a white ruffled shirt over leggings that men wore in earlier time period tucked into white boots. Along with gloves he wore, a white cape draped over his outfit in sheets of a white fuzzy material reminiscent of bird feathers by the way they laid. And covering his face was a white owl mask lined with tiny white feathers around the edges and flecks of golden brown highlighting the eyes and crown of the mask.

There was some odd memory of an outfit similar to this but she could not place where. Maybe it was just how awed she felt by the mere sight of this imposing being as he walked towards them with his wild hair.

Why can I not remember where I have seen that outfit before? She knew she had. She just knew it. It was like a nagging thought deep in her mind but she could not place where.

"I want to introduce you someone," Mr. Stonewell said as his friend reached them. "This is Ms. Tiffany Mulrooney and this is Ms. Sarah Williams." He introduced them individually to his friend.

"Tis my pleasure," the man took each hand in greeting. Sarah gave him her hand. At the touch of the cool glove, she was again taken over with an odd sensation. "And would that be the famous actress Sarah Williams?"

"Why, yes it is. It's nice to meet you too," she half murmured.

"And this is Gareth King," their host introduced his friend. "Gareth, Tiffany has most graciously agreed to take me up on my offer for a dance. I was hoping you could entertain her friend to keep me from feeling like a terrible host by leaving her all alone knowing no one."

"You are a terrible host indeed to leave her alone with me." He smirked at his friend before meeting Sarah's gaze. "However, I promise to do my best to ensure she has a good time."

"Good. I am sure he will. If I fail to see you again Ms. Williams, I hope you enjoy yourself tonight." With that Mr. Stonewell escorted Tiffany off to dance.

"May I ask you to dance as well," Mr. King offered gesturing his hand out to the dance floor.

She slid her hand into his offered hand. "Certainly and may I ask if I have met you before. You seem oddly familiar."

He smiled. "Once a while back. It was right after one of your first performances. I have attended all your plays every since. Actually, it was I who dragged Lance to your most recent one."

Her cheeks flushed red. "Oh my, I don't know what to say but thank you. You certainly know how to impress a girl."

"I wasn't really trying at this particular moment, but I'm glad I did."

He put a hand at her waist as they began dancing.

"And I must say I do adore your costume. You are not just a swan, but a swan princess in that."

Her heart quickened at his words. "Again thank you. And yours is very striking as well." She again had the notion she had seen the outfit before. "It is very unique."

"It is. I guess you could say we are birds of a feather." He laughed at his little quip and so did she even though she did not find it that funny.

They danced on in silence. She became entranced by him. She could not take her eyes from his.

As each song ended and a new one started, they never quit dancing with each other and no one intervened.

A loud clang awoke her from her trance-like state. She looked around searching for a clock. But it was only a tray a servant had clumsily dropped. Why had she been searching for a clock?

"What…what time is it?"

"Time to go home."

"What?" Confused by his statement her brow winkled as she observed his eyes burning into her.

He spun her around pointing towards a clock in the corner of the room. At first, Sarah thought it read that it was midnight. But then she realized that the clock had thirteen numbers on it.

Her heart froze. She knew where she had seen the costume before. No, not a costume, an outfit. It was what Jareth had worn the last time she had seen him. How could she have forgotten? But she had been so focused on defeating him and getting her brother back. And then the owl mask…she knew he could become an owl. How had she not have seen it? Gareth King was Jareth, the Goblin King.

And her dress had indeed been the one she had known. She had thought it could only be similar, but it was the exact same one, only with a mask.

She knew this had felt wrong from the beginning. Why hadn't she followed her instincts? How could she have played so easily into his plot?

"Why yes you met me a long time ago and I have always attended your plays. I have never truly left you Sarah. Just stayed in the background so you could shine and have your fun. Now, it is time for you to come home and be not the swan princess, but the Goblin Queen."

"Tiffany." She did not know what had happened to her friend or what Jareth would do to her.

"She will be fine. Lance will see to it. He was one of mine. A boy once wished away by someone who no longer wanted him. He's a loyal lad who has made a success of himself in this world just as I knew he would. That is why I let him come back here when he was old enough. I knew he would one day be useful."

"Why now? Why did you finally come for me now then? Why not earlier?" She had to know. She knew it would not change what his was about to do, but she had to know.

"I wanted you to have your success first. Let you live your dream. Now I will have mine. It is time. Close your eyes Sarah. It will be better for you."

She did as he told her feeling the shiver in the air around her.

"Open your eyes." When she did, she saw the brick walls of the castle.

He turned her around to face him. She saw the bed behind him and knew that she was in his bedroom.

Her heart pounded, but she could not speak.

He met her eyes. "I as Jareth, King of the Underground, the Goblin King, pronounce Sarah Williams as my bride to be forever more known as Sarah, Queen of the Underground, the Goblin Queen."

Then Sarah got a surprise. Jareth pulled her into a hug. "I have waited for you so long. I do indeed love you no matter what you believe, I love you and I will make you happy Sarah. Love me and I will be your slave." While it was not exactly the same words he had once used, she remembered them. And she believed that he did at least believe that he loved her.

He pulled away and looked into her eyes. "I promise."

He did not lead her towards the bed as she thought he would but instead to two chairs near a fireplace set with a candlelight dinner. He pulled out her chair, but before she could be seated, he drew a thumb softly across her cheek as he leaned his lips against hers. She felt a fire burn through her. Never had another kiss caused her to feel this way.

She was in a daze as she sat down. "Go ahead and eat Sarah." She did for a lack of nothing else to do.

After they were finished, Jareth spoke again breaking the uncomfortable silence. "Sarah, you need to know that while I will eventually expect you to fully become my wife, I will give you as much time as you need to get to know me."

While that gave her some relief and showed that he did indeed truly care about her in some way, she did have a question for him. "What if I never come to love you?"

She looked up straight into his eyes to see the pain that dwelled within. Her words had wounded him.

"I don't know. I never thought about that. You once did nothing but imagine me swooping in to save you and I have continued to believe that those feelings must still be hidden deep within you."

His words alarmed her knowing that she had never truly shaken him. It was time to be honest not only with herself but with him as well. "You know me too well."

He just stared at her.

"It scared me but in the back of my mind, I guess I have always dreamed you would come for me."

"Why?" The single word startled her.

She shook her head.

"Why," he repeated.

"I don't know." The tears began running down her cheeks. "I always thought it was just some silly schoolgirl fantasy I could never shake, but maybe…" She gulped not sure she was really to admit it. "Maybe, it was more."

He nodded. "That is all I wanted to know. All I wanted you to realize for yourself."

He stood up and walked over to her sitting down on the edge of the table. Leaning over the cloth of his white glove gently brushed away her tears.

"Let's talk Sarah."

And talk they did most of the night and the next day and the following night and so on until the night came that Sarah acknowledged she was finally ready to fully be his wife in more than just name. Slowly she found herself falling in love with him and wanting to be around him all the time. He was much gentler than she had thought and showed interest in just about everything she did, even giving her a crystal to view her family and friends in the other world whenever she wanted. He even held her as she would cry over them asking if she would really rather him take her back. She would just shake her head knowing she could never turn back, not now.

"Goodnight Sarah," he kissed her before heading towards the door. This had become their tradition. Jareth had given Sarah his bed and had been sleeping elsewhere in the castle.

Sarah felt empty as he walked away. He turned and questioned, "Is something wrong? No goodnight tonight?" She always told him goodnight just as he did her.

She did not answer his question but instead asked, "My husband, why do you insist on leaving me night after night?" She smiled knowingly trying to be demure about it, but she wanted her husband's arms around her tonight and every night in the future. She wanted to wake up with him by her side. She wanted to be by his side.

"Are you saying?"

"Yes. I love you Jareth. I, Sarah Williams, take Jareth, King of the Underground, the Goblin King as my husband."

He rushed back to her smothering her in his embrace. "Sarah, I told you I would make you happy, but you could never imagine just how happy you have made me. I love you Sarah."

"And I love you." She pressed her lips to his.


End file.
